


Falling

by calendarpages



Category: Glee
Genre: Future Fic, M/M, POV Original Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-07
Updated: 2012-06-07
Packaged: 2017-11-07 06:45:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/428099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calendarpages/pseuds/calendarpages
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith Richardson fell hard for dreamboat and Warblers frontman Blaine Anderson, but when Blaine falls for Kurt and Keith is crushed, he vows to never fall in love again. Ever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling

Dirty blond hair, swept back hastily using too much cheap product, blazing amber eyes, their fire dimmed substantially by thick, square glasses. Pale, almost pasty skin dotted here and there with the odd pimple or freckle. Long, gangly limbs that grew seemingly overnight, adding a whole new layer of awkward to an already distressing package. Simply put, Keith Richardson was a nerd, in the worst sense of the word. He wasn't one of those hipster types who wore thick-rimmed glasses without lenses and owned far more cardigans and pairs of earth-toned skinny jeans than was socially acceptable. They called themselves nerds, but Keith knew that they hadn't even begun to scrape the surface. Being a nerd didn't make you new friends to smoke pot with, it made you enemies who bullied you to no end and literally drove you out of school simply because you were substantially more intelligent than they were, or would ever be. That was what it meant to be a nerd. And it sucked.

* * *

Dalton was supposed to be his haven, a tight-laced prep school filled with blazer wearing intellectuals who could properly appreciate Keith's astounding brilliance. Instead it was just a new form of isolation, only this time, his loneliness was more poignant because none of the boys had any reason to ignore him. Dalton had a strictly enforced anti-bullying policy, not only that but the boys seemed genuinely kind. They weren't the type to pick on or estrange the awkward smart kid, mostly because it seemed that a lot of them were awkward and smart as well. And yet, Keith still found himself eating lunch alone, gazing longingly at a group of rowdy boys at the center of the cafeteria. The Warblers. They were Dalton's a cappella group and frankly, they were the popular kids, the ones that everyone wished they could be. Dalton wasn't exactly a social caste system but once you were in the Warblers, you were immediately elevated to a level of reverence reserved in public school for the quarterback and his crew. Keith wanted nothing more than to get a glimpse of that world. A world that had the school at its feet, all begging for a moment in its presence. He'd never had a taste of power but something in Keith told him that the second he did, he'd never want to let go. But as well as that, Keith desperately wanted into the Warblers for another reason, a much more innocent reason.

That reason was a short, springy boy with dark curly hair and hazel eyes so deep Keith could swear he'd drowned in them on multiple occasions; Blaine Anderson, lead singer of the Warblers and resident heartthrob. Yes, Keith was gay, very much so, but it had never defined him. His parents were sadly apathetic when it came to his sexuality and the kids at his old public school hadn't even known. It wasn't that Keith was afraid of coming out- hell he was quite fine with shouting it from the roof tops (it wasn't like he wasn't already being bullied mercilessly, he could take a couple more slurs and locker slams) but he'd had no reason to tell anyone so he remained deep in the closet. At Dalton, Keith supposed, it would be different-but still nobody asked and so nobody found out. That is, until Blaine.

Blaine Anderson was the most gorgeous, perfect, indescribable boy Keith had ever laid eyes on. He made Keith's stomach go all fluttery and his cheeks heat up in a chagrined blush so often that it had to be unhealthy. The first time Keith met Blaine was rather surreal. It had been Keith's first day of school after his transfer and he was still very much haunted by the demons of his past. He'd been skittering down what he thought was an empty hall, trying his best to find his next class in the maze that was Dalton. All of a sudden, Keith had collided with a hard, warm something and he'd dropped his books in surprise, fully prepared to be punched upside the face for his clumsiness. Instead Keith had looked up through his long, pale eyelashes and loose blond bangs into the soft golden eyes of one Blaine Anderson.

"Woah, woah, hey are you okay?" Blaine had said, smiling in an amused way at Keith's perfect deer-in-the-headlights impression.

Blaine, being the touchy feely boy that he was had reached out to pat Keith's shoulder in what should have been a reassuring way, but instead Keith leapt back as though he'd been burned. Realization flickered across Blaine's face when Keith ducked his head and made to grab his scattered books and bolt.

"Hey, its okay, I'm not going to hurt you," Blaine said softly as he bent down to pick up Keith's Calculus textbook. "My name's Blaine by the way, I'm a Junior this year, how about you?"

Keith was shocked. Why was this dreamy, no-doubt, popular boy stopping to talk to him? And why hadn't he hit him yet?

"Keith," he half-whispered, not meeting Blaine's gaze.

"Keith," Blaine parroted, as though testing the name on his tongue. "Let me guess, you're new this year."

Keith looked up, a quizzical look on his face. How in the world had Blaine known that he'd just transferred?

As though reading his mind, Blaine answered his unspoken question, "I've been there too, you know. Flinching whenever anyone touched me, walking through life with my head down."

Blaine seemed to be concentrating on something in his mind, his eyes were fixed on a point above Keith's head, but they had that far-off, glazed look to them that indicated deep thought. The pair stood in silence for a few seconds, Blaine still holding Keith's textbook, although Keith was nearly positive that it was completely forgotten. For a second, Keith got a glimpse of a scared boy, bullied to his breaking point. And then it was gone, as quick as it had come. All of a sudden Blaine snapped back to the present, and the put-together facade was back in full swing.

"Here's your book Keith," said Blaine, his eyes once again trained on Keith's shocked face. "See you around, yea?"

"Yea, see you around," murmured Keith, distractedly pushing his glasses back up his nose and attempting not to meet the dazzling boy's gaze.

And then, like a King sweeping out of his throne room, Blaine was walking away, leaving Keith clutching at his books and wondering if this was what love at first sight felt like.

* * *

As it turned out, Blaine didn't really see Keith around, as he had promised. Keith gravitated towards the quiet, bookish types who hung out in the library and discussed homework and not much else, while Blaine was immersed in the fast life- which didn't surprise Keith at all, seeing as Blaine was the most charismatic, talented boy in the school. Just by chance, Keith's dorm ended up being two doors down from Blaine's, and for that reason, Keith could always hear when he and his Warbler buddy and roommate Thad either stumbled in after an evening of partying or spent the night watching movies and playing video games until the wee hours of the morning.

When Keith first realized he had feelings for Blaine, he'd been expecting torture. Surely Blaine had a boyfriend, or worse, a girlfriend and was committed and in love and completely out of reach. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending upon how you take it), Blaine was extremely single, hell; he'd never even had a boyfriend before. Keith had dug up this rather intriguing piece of gossip while interrogating Justin; a shy, intelligent boy who had been recruited by the Warblers that year for his clear, low bass voice. Unlike many of the other Warbler newbies, Justin didn't take to his newfound popularity, instead he preferred to hole up in the library or in the corner of one of the lavishly decorated common rooms with a book. Before Justin had joined the Warblers, he and Keith had a strange friendship going, one mostly of convenience, seeing as they shared many of their classes. Keith decided to use this to his advantage, questioning Justin about Blaine, trying and failing to sound casual and only mildly interested when really he was hungry for details like a starving man presented with a three course meal.

"So, Justin, any relationship drama in the Warblers lately?" Keith asked, the nonchalance in his tone poorly faked. He knew there was a reason besides his fear of performing that stopped him from ever trying out for the school play.

Justin rolled his eyes and set his book down on his lap, careful not to crinkle any of the pages. "No Keith, Blaine is not dating anyone, nor has he ever for that matter."

Keith's eyebrows shot up. Blaine Anderson, charming, smoking hot Blaine Anderson had never had a boyfriend?

"I'm not even looking at you and I can tell you're thinking really hard about this one Keith, don't hurt yourself," teased Justin, his nose once again buried in his book.

And Keith  _was_  thinking really hard about this one. Maybe Blaine was just as insecure about relationships as Keith; maybe Blaine could actually like Keith, despite his complete and utter lack of knowledge and experience. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

"As much as I love our little lady chats," Keith scoffed at that, they were certainly not having a lady chat, "I really must be going- impromptu Warbler's performance in the Senior Commons in 10 minutes."

Justin stalked out of the common room with Keith hot on his heels; he wasn't about to miss an opportunity to see Blaine perform. As Keith struggled to keep up with Justin (he was really booking, maybe he wanted to get rid of him or something) he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. A boy with dark curly hair running hand in hand down one of the adjacent hallways with a tall, lithe, impossibly beautiful stranger, smiling like the giddy love-struck teenagers they probably were. Keith screeched to halt and whipped his head around but the pair was gone. Keith cursed under his breath; he was finally going crazy wasn't he?

* * *

Teenage Dream. The Warblers sang Teenage Dream. Keith stood at the back of the crowd that had gathered to watch, straining to see over the hordes of freakishly tall seniors that had decided to stand right in front of him. Blaine sang every lyric to the bubblegum pop song like it applied personally to him and his teenage dream.  _Me_ , Keith's foolish mind supplied before Keith silenced his wishful thinking and focused completely on Blaine's silky smooth voice and eye-catching performance. When the song was over, the Warblers all crowded around Blaine, slapping his back and grabbing his shoulders in that congratulatory teenage boy way. Instead of on his friends surrounding him, Keith noticed that Blaine's eyes were trained on someone in the crowd. Blaine stared at that someone with such intensity that Keith knew if it were he in the light of that gaze, he would have surely melted into a lovesick puddle on the floor. Keith craned his neck desperately, trying to see over the ocean of boys on post-performance high around him. He really, really wanted to know who Blaine was looking at that way, if only to gauge his competition.

_Hah! Competition- as if you were ever in the game_ , Keith thought bitterly as he gave up and pushed through the crowd in search of Justin, surely he'd seen the mysterious person who held Blaine's attention the entire performance.

* * *

Two weeks later and Keith still didn't have any idea who it was that Blaine had been staring at during Teenage Dream. Justin had been too hyped up on performance adrenaline to notice something as trivial as where his lead soloist was looking as he sang and Keith didn't have to guts to go in search of answers anywhere else. All Keith knew was that whatever happened that day had obviously affected Blaine in a big way because he'd had Katy Perry on loop practically every day since, much to the annoyance of his roommate. Also, Keith had unintentionally caught Blaine doodling little hearts surrounding what looked suspiciously like K + B (No, bad Keith. He. does. not. like. you.). More than that, Blaine's entire demeanor had changed. He was more dreamy and subdued than his usual peppy self. He was less boisterous and more pensive; he spent more and more time in the Junior commons pretending to do homework and instead staring distractedly into the distance. All of this had to mean something but Keith was too scared of getting his hopes up to read into in further.

All of that changed though, a couple weeks later when Keith was padding down the hallway lost in thought. He'd just made a quick run to the Junior commons in search of his reading book, and was now planning on curling up in his bed in his silent room (thank god for single dorms) and reading until the early hours of the morning. Much to his surprise, as Keith was passing Blaine's room, he overhead snippets of conversation drifting out into the hallway and Keith simply resist. He crouched down in the shadows out of the direct line of sight. Keith really didn't want to get caught eavesdropping by a teacher, much less a student. That would be an extremely awkward conversation, one he'd like to avoid, thank you very much. From where he was hiding, Keith could clearly hear the quarreling roommates, Keith could tell they were fighting about something by their strained tones and clipped words. He listened harder.

"Thad I can't!" exclaimed Blaine, his voice exasperated and insistent, it was obvious that the roommates had had this argument before.

"Why not? He's not going anywhere, just do it and put us all out of misery," retorted Thad and Keith heard the muffled thump of someone, probably Blaine, falling onto a bed.

"We hardly know each other, he can't think of me like that!" Blaine lamented and then added, a distinct bitter twinge in his voice, "If he thinks of me at all."

And then it clicked. Oh my wizard god. Thad and Blaine were talking about Blaine's crush. Blaine had a crush! One he thought was unrequited apparently, as if anyone could not be in love with Blaine.

Thad's response was softer this time, "Blaine, of course he thinks of you, he's loved you since the second he set eyes on you."

Keith shook his head in disbelief. Blaine didn't seem convinced. Typical humble Blaine, unable to comprehend someone falling in love with little old him.

"Thad, its just, I've never felt this way about someone else and I don't want to mess this up! I think we could have something really special and I'm so damn inexperienced and he's just so amazing and god stop me Thad I'm rambling."

"You can't."

"What?"

"You can't screw this up, the only way you can screw this up is by not going for it and missing your chance."

Blaine paused for a second.

"But what about his past? I know for a fact that he was bullied really badly. How can I know that he even wants a relationship right now? I can tell he's not over his demons yet. The first time I touched him he flinched, only people who are used to being hit flinch like that. I would know."

Something warm and unyielding began to bloom in Keith's stomach. Every word that Blaine said had him more and more convinced. This mysterious boy, Blaine's crush, sounded so much like  _him_. It all made sense. He and Blaine didn't really talk all that much, if at all, so in theory they hardly knew each other. When Blaine had first touched him, he'd jumped away (though he sorely regretted this of course, anything to spend a few more seconds in contact with Blaine). Keith's mind jumped back two weeks. Blaine's doodles  _had_  said K + B. Everything fit. Keith walked, no floated back to his dorm in a daze, he didn't need to hear any more, all of his hopes and dreams had been confirmed and he needed to scream or cry or  _something_. His heart swelled again when he thought about what this all meant. Blaine, the boy who he'd been in love with since his first day at Dalton, liked him back. And from the progress Thad had been making with him, Blaine would probably be asking him out sometime soon. Asking him out, asking  _him_  out! It was all too good to be true. As soon as Keith was safe in the confines of his dorm, he flopped down onto his bed and grabbed his pillow. Hugging it tight to his chest, he squealed like the ridiculous schoolboy in love that he was. Things finally seemed to be looking up for Keith Richardson.

* * *

Keith was not a patient person. When he was nine he'd accidentally found his parents' stash of Christmas presents in the attic a month early and he'd been unable to contain himself, opening them all, the guilt only settling in as he tore open the last one. Being a crafty child, he'd stolen the wrapping paper and re-wrapped ever single one with the same care his mother probably put in the first time. On Christmas day he'd acted appropriately surprised and his parents hadn't suspected a thing.

So now that he was fairly sure Blaine had a crush on him, he was getting extremely anxious, waiting for Blaine to approach him about it. Every time Blaine walked in his direction, Keith would sit up straighter and try to control the butterflies that were positively attacking the inside of his stomach. But Blaine never did approach him; he always seemed to veer away at the last minute, leaving Keith, for lack of better words, high and dry. After a week of torture Keith was  _this_  close to just snapping and pushing Blaine up against the nearest wall and ravishing him. And then it happened.

It was another one of those situations when Keith was certain that Blaine was walking towards him. Keith was standing by his locker, getting his books for his next class and not so discreetly checking Blaine out. Blaine had just turned the corner and was strolling down the hall like he owned the place, beaming in a way that Keith had never seen before. Maybe today was the day; maybe that was why he looked so giddy! Keith's heart sped up and he drew in a deep stuttering breath. And just as fast as Keith's heart had began to flutter, it nearly stopped. Emerging from the crowd, looking fairly lost, came a beautiful boy who Keith was sure he'd never seen around Dalton before. The boy was tall and nymph-like in appearance. His entire body seemed like a contradiction of itself, his movements were graceful and almost feminine but his jaw was angular and strong. More than just his physical beauty was his presence, Keith hadn't even been looking in his direction and yet the second his eyes found him they flew to the boy's face like a magnet. The boy exuded an air of poise and self-importance. All Keith could think was, woah. But the gorgeous boy wasn't what made Keith's heart stop; it was the scene that was playing out in front of his eyes. It was like watching a car crash in slow motion, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't look away.

Blaine's eyes had lit up impossibly as soon as he saw the new boy and he'd immediately rushed to his side. The boy had brightened as well and a sweet, toothless smile had spread across his features. It was sickening, the way they looked at each other. Blaine grabbed the boy's hand (Keith's heart twisted painfully) and led him over to his locker, chattering all the while. The boy's smile grew, if that was even possible, as Blaine gestured to the empty locker beside his own and the boy took a Dalton issued lock out of his bag and claimed the locker before turning to Blaine and saying something that must have been hilarious because Blaine doubled over with laughter (Keith's heart stuttered) and the boy responded with an adorable little giggle of his own. Blaine reached out and took both the boy's hands in his own, squeezing reassuringly and offering him supportive words. The boy smiled shyly and blushed (Keith's heart throbbed in desperate kind of way) in exactly the same way Keith knew he did when Blaine so much as looked at him. Keith hardly noticed as the crowds in the hall began to thin, his eyes were glued to Blaine and this gorgeous new kid who was obviously involved with Blaine in someway. Then, like the final nail in his coffin, as the 5 minute bell for class rang, Blaine released the boy's hands and moved one of his hands to the boy's waist and the other to the back of his neck and pulled him down for a soft, entirely too love filled kiss (Keith's heart bled). The pair across the hall had no idea what they were doing to him. After they had shared a completely innocence kiss, Blaine and the boy closed their lockers and shouldered their bags. Blaine once again slid his hand into the boy's, as if they'd been doing this forever and then they were off down the hall towards whatever, shared no doubt, class they had next.

Keith couldn't quite put his finger on what he was feeling, the nausea, the painful pressure in his chest, all he knew was that it was about time he took a sick day because really, perfect attendance records were meaningless when you've just had your heart broken. At first he was crushed. He'd been so convinced that something could and was going to happen between him and Blaine. Blaine was going to be his high school sweetheart and when they graduated they'd move somewhere where gay marriage was legal like Vermont or maybe New York and they'd get married young and Keith would become an award winning author and Blaine would become a top 40 recording artist and in interviews they'd tell their story of high school romance over and over. Then he was angry. Not at Blaine, but at himself. How could he have been so deluded? He could count the number of conversations he'd had with Blaine on his fingers. What had gone wrong in his though process that convinced him that Blaine could ever love him, they were hardly even acquaintances! Keith cursed himself as he pushed into his dorm and threw his bag onto his desk chair. Burying his face in his pillow he cried his eyes out, shamelessly letting himself fall apart over a completely one-sided relationship that had taken over his life at Dalton. Soon though, the tears stopped and the determination set in. With one last, bitter sigh Keith made himself a promise; he'd never fall in love again. It wasn't worth it for all the pain he knew it caused.

* * *

**Eleven years later..**

Keith couldn't believe himself. Here he was, sitting in his rental car in the student parking lot of Dalton, mentally berating himself. Why did he care so much? He was just going to his 10-year high school reunion. This really shouldn't be such a big deal. He was successful, very much so, meaning he didn't have to feel awkward about having done nothing with his life. His books were flying off the shelves, he had a beautiful little apartment in Burlington, Vermont, and he was happy, really happy. Right? So why was seeing all his old classmates making him so damn antsy? The answer was on the tip of his tongue but for some reason, probably the fact that it was extremely pathetic of him to still feel this way, he forced himself not to acknowledge it.

"Blaine."

There. He said it. Keith was nervous about seeing Blaine. Why? Keith didn't know. He hadn't seen him in ten years, he'd heard him of course, but that wasn't saying much. Blaine was famous. His debut album had dominated the charts and he was well on his way to becoming the new King of Pop. Keith had bought his album the day it came out. Hearing Blaine's voice made him more emotional than it should of. He had a boyfriend, for goodness' sake! Keith that is, he wasn't sure about Blaine as he made sure to keep his private life on the down low. His name was Jeremy and he was so sweet he gave Keith cavities. They had one of those awesome, goopy relationships that everyone seems to strive for. And yet Keith knew on the inside that he wasn't truly in love with Jeremy. Sure, he loved Jeremy, more than anything in the world, but he wasn't in love with him. Keith never broke promises and he'd promised himself that he'd never fall in love. So he didn't. To him loving someone meant caring about them deeply but somehow falling in love with someone meant tying yourself to them and then putting your heart on that line. Falling love meant trusting yourself entirely to another person, trusting them to catch you when you fell. Keith lost that trust when he fell for Blaine. Blaine hadn't noticed Keith fall and he certainly hadn't caught him. Keith thought that maybe Jeremy would catch him but he wasn't entirely sure. He'd never seen two people who were completely in love, his parents certainly never were and it seemed that all the other couples around him were envious of his relationship with Jeremy and not the other way around. They were nearing their 5th anniversary now, as they'd met in college and Keith couldn't imagine himself without Jeremy.

And yet here he was, wondering about Blaine, wondering, always wondering. Keith had never been sure about anything when it came to Blaine and to Keith this was infuriating. He liked facts and watertight plots without inconsistencies or questioning. Right now, Keith was wondering if Blaine was still with Kurt. Kurt, that was the boy he'd seen with Blaine that horrible day his Junior year at Dalton. Kurt was successful too, but in the world of fashion. He owned his own label, Warbler Designs; named for the singing group he'd been a part of in high school. The tabloids all seemed to think that Blaine and Kurt were together but Keith knew the press from personal experience and he wasn't about to believe anything they said.

Taking a last weary breath, Keith forced himself out of the car. He'd just get this whole thing over with and then go back to Vermont and writing and Jeremy and loving but not being love. That was his life and he didn't feel like stirring it up because he liked it just the way it was, calm, like a basin of water devoid of ripples or imperfections. He didn't want Blaine to flounce in and screw up everything he'd worked for.

* * *

Walking into the school was like walking into a time machine. Nothing had changed. It looked exactly the same as it had 10 years ago. Around him, other men, some who Keith recognized and other who he didn't, made their way into the building, following the neatly printed signs directing them to the large multi-purpose room where the reunion would be held. Keith was lost in thought, as he so often was and he didn't notice when he made a wrong turn until he found himself completely alone in some hall or another with no idea where he was. Cursing under his breath he made to retrace his steps but was distracted by the quiet sound of voices coming from somewhere farther down the corridor where he stood. Curiosity got the better of him and he followed the noise until he found himself at the top of a large twisting staircase. The ceiling was domed and made up almost exclusively of skylights bordered by black metal frames. It was beautiful and light and airy and reeked of romanticism and charm. Cautiously, unsure if this was a situation upon which he wanted to intrude, Keith peered over the side of the staircase to the ground floor below. With a sharp intake of breath he ducked down, his heart pounding audibly in his chest. Standing on the staircase, looking at each other with hearts in their eyes were Kurt and Blaine. The internal debate within Keith was insufferable. Half of him wanted to stay and listen and half of him wanted to run as far away as possible. All the while Keith was mentally laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. It seemed that he had a habit of eavesdropping on Blaine at turning points in his life.

In the end his curious nature took over just as it had all those years ago and he found himself inching along the side of the staircase, closer to where the couple stood, completely oblivious to his presence. Their voices were hushed but somehow Keith could tell that the conversation he'd nearly interrupted was deeply personal. For a second, this made Keith want to get up and leave but once again the need for explanations won, as it seemed it always would. Carefully Keith angled himself so that he was able to see the couple but so that the top of the staircase was hiding him from view. Their voices echoed in the hall, their words seeming to punctuate the lazy summer air, piercing it and breaking the peace that had reigned it for the months when the boys whose cries usually filled it were gone.

"Blaine you are such a nostalgic goofball," murmured Kurt, smiling faintly. His arms were resting effortlessly around Blaine's neck and Blaine's hands were pressed to Kurt's hipbones, Keith could see his fingers rubbing listless circles into the skin there.

"This is where we met, its an important place, my love," replied Blaine, tugging gently on Kurt's waist, bringing him closer.

"We're going to be late for the reunion lunch, everyone will think we ran off to some classroom to get it on," whined Kurt and Blaine laughed, the sound bouncing off the walls of the airy room, sounding so much louder in the relative quiet of the moment.

"Jokes aside Kurt, this staircase means a lot to me, it saved me."

"And how in the world did a staircase save you Blaine?" Kurt's voice wasn't as patronizing as it could have been; there was a softness there that made Keith think that maybe the staircase had saved Kurt somehow too.

"It led me to you," said Blaine and as Kurt opened his mouth to reply, no doubt with some stab at Blaine's cheesiness that Keith could tell that Kurt really loved, Blaine placed a silencing figure to Kurt's lips.

"Let me finish, my love and no more interruptions, okay," murmured Blaine. Kurt looked at Blaine incredulously but made a little movement with his head, encouraging Blaine to continue.

"Before I met you, I hated myself," Kurt began to say something but then he remembered he'd promised not to interrupt, Keith knew it was probably killing him to hear Blaine put himself down, "My family was un-accepting of my sexuality in the worst way. They severed all emotional ties with me and some days when I went home, it was like I was living with complete strangers. I've told you the story of the Sadie Hawkins Dance and how my family didn't even bother to visit me in the hospital apart from signing paperwork. I think that's what really broke me, the fact that they didn't even care that I was hurting, emotionally and physically."

Blaine stopped talking for a moment and smiled, pressing his lips quickly, chastely to Kurt's, "And then Dalton happened. I filled out all the transfer papers my parents were supposed to fill out, went to all the meetings that my parents were supposed to attend, and in the end all my dad had do to was sign on the dotted line and pay the tuition once a year. Dalton was so, so much better but I was still so emotionally distant, I didn't tell anyone about my past, I didn't get close to any of the people I met, not really. Until I met you."

Kurt was crying a little bit now, it was as if he was empathizing with the story Blaine was telling in a very personal way, like he had felt the same pain once and was reliving it in that moment.

"Kurt, when I met you I didn't know what to do with myself. I remember the Warbler guys telling me that in the months after we met but before we got together I wasn't myself. I'd never felt the way I felt and still feel about you and it scared me so much. I was so numb back then and falling in love with you was like a slap to the face. You saved me from myself Kurt, you've always been so sure of who you are and that inspired me so much. You're the reason I followed my passion for music instead of going to law school like my dad always said I would. You're my inspiration and my muse, I can't imagine being happy without you. Kurt Hummel, I love you so much. You taught me how to feel, you're the reason I know how to love you the way I do."

Kurt was a mess. The tears were trickling down his face like little rivers and yet he was smiling in the same way Keith recognized from all those years ago at Dalton, toothless and full of joy. And what Blaine did next, Keith had to physically clamp a hand over his mouth to stop himself from gasping, an action that was imitated by Kurt. Blaine slowly bent down, settling on one knee, and taking Kurt's left hand, the one that wasn't pressed to his mouth in shock, in his. Fumbling slightly, Blaine reaching into his jacket pocket and pulled out a little black box. Keith swooned a little bit, this was perhaps the most romantic thing he'd ever seen, apart maybe from that one time Jeremy had come how early from a business trip overseas so that he could surprise Keith with a candlelit dinner and rose petal covered bed. Blaine flipped open the box, and carefully, not releasing Kurt's hand, took out the white gold ring nestled there in a bed of creamy satin.

"Kurt Elizabeth Hummel," Keith almost laughed at that, Kurt's middle name was Elizabeth? It struck him as an odd choice for a boy, but he reasoned that there must be some importance to the name Elizabeth in Kurt's family. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want us grow old together and never fall out of love. I want to be able to tell you that you're beautiful in 50 years when you're grey and wrinkly because you'll always be the most gorgeous man on this Earth to me. I want us to have kids and grandkids and I want to watch them grow up together. Kurt, I love you more than the world, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

If Kurt was rendered anywhere as speechless as Keith was by Blaine's speech, he probably wouldn't be able do anything but nod. Kurt bobbed his head, almost hysterically, not even trying to hold in the sobs of happiness as Blaine slipped the ring onto his finger. Kurt threw himself into Blaine's arms, kissing every inch of Blaine's face he could reach before finally finding his lips and lingering there. Blaine looked happy, over the moon happy. He held onto Kurt and kissed him like there was no tomorrow.

Keith was shaken. Was that what it looked like to be in love? He thought back to all the teary reunions he'd had with Jeremy, all those nights when he'd tried to lose himself in Jeremy's arms because that was where he felt safest, all those kisses he shared with Jeremy that made him feel as though his entire world was being torn apart and then sewn back up with thread made of Jeremy. It was always Jeremy. Keith loved Jeremy. Keith was _in love_  with Jeremy, just like Blaine was in love with Kurt and Kurt was in love with Blaine. Keith stood up quickly, almost positive that the couple on the staircase was too lost in each other to notice his quiet, retreating footsteps. Keith wasn't sure why he was feeling what he was feeling but for some reason he was suddenly incredibly sure that he was in love with his boyfriend. He didn't just love him, he suddenly felt as though he was connected to Jeremy in some irrevocable way. Funny, it took him 5 years to come to this realization with Jeremy when he'd convinced himself he was in love with Blaine in 5 minutes. Keith shuddered. He'd gone into this reunion fully expecting Blaine to somehow waltz in and stir up his life a bit but he'd never expected this. Keith thought back to Blaine's speech, how Kurt had shown him how to love. Wasn't that exactly what Jeremy had done for him? He supposed that Jeremy had shown him not how to love, but that it was okay to fall, because he'd be there. He was still there. Jeremy was waiting for Keith to fall and in that moment, Keith knew he was ready. He wasn't going to just let himself fall this time though, he was going to jump.

* * *

Keith hated flying alone. He'd realized this after he'd had the pleasure of flying to California with Jeremy for an impromptu vacation. There was nothing quite like the sensation of being 1,000s of miles up in the air, safe in the arms of someone you love. On the plane back from Ohio and the high school reunion that had ultimately changed his life, Keith was pensive. He wanted to marry Jeremy. He'd decided that after watching Kurt and Blaine get engaged (literally) and experiencing the utter joy that it brought to them and those around them. Now that he was ready to give himself fully to Jeremy, he wanted to take that step. He wanted to show Jeremy that he'd fought back that final demon from his past that he'd failed to acknowledge for all this time. He'd bought a ring back in Ohio on impulse. He'd been walking down the main street of Westerville and had passed a quaint little jewelry shop and found himself drawn in. A thin gold band, inlaid with three small diamonds caught his eye and he'd bought it without a second thought.

Now he sat on the plane back home with the ring burning a hole in his jacket pocket. He wanted this to be perfect; he wanted Jeremy to finally be able to see how much he really meant to him. As Jeremy lifted him up into his arms and spun him around at the airport, laughing as people gave them funny looks, Keith thought about it. As Jeremy opened to door to their small, yet classy Burlington apartment, revealing a set table and a plastic bag of Keith's absolute favorite Chinese food ready to be reheated (because for some reason, Keith always thought Chinese takeout always tasted better like that), Keith thought about it. As he and Jeremy snuggled, legs tangled, Jeremy's arm around his waist and watched Doctor Who, Keith thought about it. As Jeremy made love to him, slow and deep and passionate, Keith thought about it. But the one time Keith actually did it, groped for the little black box in his jacket pocket and got down on one knee and asked that singular, most life changing question was the next day in the morning when Jeremy took him out for brunch and told Keith that he was in love with him. He'd said it before, but not once had Keith been able to honesty reply, "I'm in love with you too."

**Author's Note:**

> This has been cleaned up and moved from fanfiction.net.


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